Horoscopes for July 31, 2014

Mercury, road manager and minister of communication, leaves the domestic realm of Cancer for the splashier realm of Leo. External validation feels wonderful, but it’s a slippery slope. If you’re always going for the applause, you’ll lose your moral center and become a slave to public opinion. So take your bow, but keep things in perspective, too.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). It will be as though the world is providing a pause to help you gracefully transition to a new idea. Accept the lull – it’s a gift. Don’t be too quick to move the action along.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). New problems keep you sharp. Of course, you prefer to think of them as “situations” that are all well within your capability even though that’s yet to be proved. Because your attitude is so positive, you’ll prevail.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Sometimes you get lucky and stumble upon a free ride, but generally speaking, you have to buy the ticket first. The opportunity to invest in your “ticket” will come along this afternoon, and that window will close tonight.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). There’s power in stillness because stillness is potential. Also, people project their inner desires onto a still surface. Your inner stillness enables you to reflect the hopes and wishes of others back to them.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Temptations abound, but you know a trap when you see one. Maybe you’ll get away with the prize, but is it worth the risk? As a fellow Leo suggested, “Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.” — John Dryden

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Relationships spark to the subtlest changes. Add or subtract one element, and everything will be different. For instance, your experience may be transformed by adding music.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). It takes maturity to separate yourself from your problem, and you have a mature view, as you attempt to walk around it, rise above it and observe it from as many angles as possible.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). As a rule, you prefer not to be the most interesting person in the room. You’d rather be where there are so many interesting people that you don’t even know whom to talk to first. That’s the kind of room you’ll encounter today.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You’ll be hyper-aware of the “time is money” theme of the day. Small talk may build rapport, but you have little patience for it now, as there’s some pressure to get to the business at hand.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). When you’re putting yourself out there, criticism comes with the territory. You welcome it. In fact, you may even ask for it. You want your work to be the best, and that means processing some feedback.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You woke up with a certain person on your mind, and this person is outside of your circle of daily interactions. Take it as the sign it is, and reach out to that person. You two are due for some communication.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Sometimes the feeling that you know something is preferable to the actual knowledge. Understandable. You have bravely, repeatedly stepped into the unknown, and now you’re ready for comfort and reprieve.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY. Pursue impossibilities this year because you have no idea what is really possible. The one who enters your life in August does so with unforgettable style. You both will be transformed by the connection. In September, risk will be good fortune’s accomplice, so do not back off. Your curiosity ignites a new passion in October. Cancer and Taurus people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 30, 2, 14, 3 and 11.

ASTROLOGICAL QUESTIONS: “I desperately hope for one outcome and fear another. Which do you think will happen?”

On an energetic level, “desperate hope” and “fear” are very close in vibration. The outcome you desperately hope for is laced in fear, as well. Why are you desperate? Desperation pushes what is desired away. “Desperate hope” and “fear” are both intense and powerful, and with consistency, they will bring into being whatever they are focused on. Let’s strike both outcomes from your mind, just as an exercise, because they both have a negative, grasping lack-mentality attached to them.

What would it take to move yourself into a better emotional space? Try to move through the spectrum of emotions step by step, as it won’t help to command yourself toward optimism. Instead, move up from fear and desperation into neutrality. What can you feel peaceful and neutral about? Once neutral feelings are achieved, strive for more. What would make you comfortable? What would make you giggle? What would be cool? Then go for higher feelings. What would be awesome? Learning to lead yourself through different emotional states is a life-changing skill and one worth devoting your attention to.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Happy birthday to “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling, a.k.a. Robert Galbraith, a.k.a. Joanne Rowling. One of the perks of being a writer is the liberty to adopt a new pen name and carry on anew! Rowling was born when the sun was in Leo, the sign of entertainment, but her moon, Mercury, Venus and Pluto were all in Virgo, suggesting an extremely shy individual who would rather entertain from afar.

If you would like to write to Holiday Mathis, please go to www.creators.com and click on “Write the Author” on the Holiday Mathis page, or you may send her a postcard in the mail.